Housing Board residents who are offered the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers) continue to show strong support, according to a HDB survey released on Thursday. The survey, conducted every two years, found that 87 per cent of 628 households polled supported the programme.

One objective of the scheme is to preserve community ties, as residents move to new flats together. The survey found that 68 per cent of Sers residents said their relationship with their neighbours had either improved or remained the same, while 80 per cent said their community life had remained intact or improved.

Commenting on the survey findings in a blog post on Thursday, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan noted that "nearly nine in 10 Sers residents have consistently shown strong support for Sers," and the latest survey has reaffirmed this.

He highlighted the example of Clementi as a town that has benefited from the scheme. The first Sers site there was announced in 1997, and since then some 2,800 households have moved into their new flats. "Sers is not only about creating new hardware. We make a conscious effort to develop the heartware by keeping community ties strong," he wrote. He noted that at the welcome party for Casa Clementi, a Sers replacement site, residents came together to create murals, "renew friendships and forge new ones".